I Told You So
by Made.To.Write
Summary: Hermione has to live with the decision she made, and she can't keep herself isolated any longer. Orginally a oneshot, Fred/Hermione
1. Chapter 1

A/N So apparently the only things I am able to write lately are songfics, considering I had an idea for another one the second I finished with this one. But all in all, I hope you enjoy this, and I thank all who read my last story _Stay_ because I had a blast writing that one as well. I hope you enjoy this!

* * *

_Suppose I called you up tonight_

_And told you that I loved you_

Hermione stared at the quill in her hand. Why was life so hard? Her mother had always told her that life wasn't fair, but she didn't imagine it would be like this. She had given up the one thing that made her feel complete; her better half. Fred Weasley.

It's not that she wanted adventure, per say, nor did she feel trapped. She didn't have a reason, really. The only real conclusion she could come up with for her irreparable mistake was that he was too perfect. _They were to perfect._ Not perfect in the sense that they agreed upon everything, of course, or got along one hundred percent of the time, but in a way where she always knew she was loved, and no matter what she did, that fact would never change.

Well, except for now of course, Hermione really couldn't be sure.

_And it's killing me to be so far away_

_Would you tell me that you loved me too?_

_Would we cry together?_

_Or would you simply laugh at me and say, _

She had moved more that one hundred miles away from their old flat. Not that she didn't stroll, or take a muggle taxi by less then a few times a week. Of course she always made sure she was home. She couldn't risk seeing him again; she knew she would have made a fool of herself.

_I told you so_

_Oh, I told you so_

If she ever did see him again, she new he had every right to scoff at how pathetic her life had become, after all, she had broken his heart. She had been told by Ginny that he had barely left his house to go to work for the first few weeks they had been apart.

However, she was now happy that he had gotten over her. She hadn't meant to hurt him that much. Although she was glad, it killed her to think that he no longer loved her, and that she had severed her ties to the beloved Weasley family. How would she ever face them again?

_I told you someday you'd come crawlin' back and askin' me to take you in_

_I told you so_

_But you had to go_

He had begged her not to go. She hadn't meant him to see her leave, but he had arrived home two hours early, to take her to dinner, flowers in hand.

He didn't fully understand at first, and looked at her quizzically, as she pulled her heavy duffel-bag over her shoulder.

"You going somewhere?" He laughed. He thought it'd been a joke.

Tears sprang unwarranted to her eyes as she remembered his voice echoing as she slammed the wooden door against its frame, her heels pounding against the concrete steps.

_Now I found somebody new and you will never break my heart in two again_

She'd heard of her. _That girl_. The one whom he was supposedly head over heals for. She wasn't completely out of the loop; she was a golden subscriber of the Daily Prophet, afterall. She had been simply skipping over the gossip section, and there she was, Amanda Jacobson. _Amanda,_ god, Hermione loathed the name. It was so snobbish, pretty, _girly._ So Un-Hermione. That's what irked her the most. She would have taken some satisfaction in his dating a brunette bookworm, with not an eyelash curler to her name.

Then again, why would he want another her, when the one he originally had she had already broken his heart?

_Suppose I got down on my knees and told you I was yours forever_

She constantly imagined what it would be like if she begged for his forgiveness. She often imagined herself collapsing to her knees, pleading incessantly. Either that or she'd pass out on the floor from the sheer excitement from seeing his face again.

_Would you get down on yours too and take my hand?_

_Would we get that old time feeling_

_Would we laugh and talk for hours_

_The way we did when our love first began_

Oh, god. What she would do to make things as they were before. Waking up every morning next to the man you adored, coffee waiting by your lamp table. Oh what a fool she had been! There's no other man in the world like Fred Weasley. He was the complete package, a wonderful, loving person. He even came with the family she felt like she had been already apart of.

Now she had lost it all.

_Would you tell me that you missed me too?_

_And that you've been so lonely_

_Or would you say the tables finally turned_

She owned her own bookshop now._ The Owly Reader._ There really wasn't anything else that Hermione could see herself doing anymore, considering books were the only way to rid herself of the shamble of the life she now lived. It was quite small, but every inch seemed to be filled with books. Old books, new books, big books, little books, you name it, Hermione probably had it.

It was modestly run, as you could probably find Hermione at the cash register, pouring over a new tome that had just arrived, a mug of tea not out of reach.

She loved working too. Any new customer that came in was bombarded with friendliness, and she was always willing to reccomend or critique something for anyone. She wasn't discriminatory either, she didn't have a favorite genre or author. She loved all written words.

The store had been quite up and coming actually, with local newspapers, much smaller than the Daily Prophet however, doing frequent stories about the unique selection Hermione had hosted in her shop. Hermione had been grateful for this amount of gratitude from the neighborhood, that is until, _she _showed up.

It was on a normal Wednesday morning when Hermione heard the familiar chime of her shop door opening, when Amanda Jacobson waltzed through the door.

Hermione thought she was too flawless, as she daintily picked up an old paperback mystery and began to skim through it.

"May I help you?" Hermione asked, business was business after all.

"Oh, why yes! Thank you. I was just looking for a book for my boyfriend, something not very well known, or he would have gotten it for himself naturally. He's been really into mysteries, however I can't seem to find an not well known author to introduce him to!"

Hermione felt her heart stop beating. Mysteries? Fred Weasly didn't like mysteries. Or atleast, she thought he hadn't. All he had ever read in front of her muggle classics. A bit of an odd practice really, but Hermione had never been able to get him to read anything else, but _she_ had gotten him to read a completely separate genre? Hermione lover of all things written couldn't do that, but _she _could?

Hermione felt silly for being angry over something so little, it was just a book for Merlin's sake, but Hermione couldn't let it go.

Perhaps he_ was _better off without her.

_I told you so_

_Oh, I told you so_

_I told you someday you'd come crawlin' back and asking me to take you in_

_I told you so_

_But you had to go_

_Now I found somebody new and you will never break my heart in two agaiAn_

_

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A/N_ Now I have an Idea for an extended ending, but I want to hear what you guys think. If you feel that this story needs a better ending, or needs to stay the way it is let me know.

Oh, and keep in mind that the extended ending will probably be pretty bad, considering it would take a lot of dialougue which I have found out I'm horrible at writing with my other account. =)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So I finally figured out where I'm going with this story! Took me long enough, right? Anyway, this chapter is basically a set up of where the story is heading, and I'd really appreciate if you all let me know what you guys think! That being said, I am always open to any questions or suggestions you have to give to me! Just send me a PM and i'll be happy to get back to you with any answers! Thank you all and I hope you enjoy the beginning of the next "chapter" of my story. =)

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Hermione surmised that she could only rationalize her move back to magical london as an product of the visit by less than a month ago. She came to the realization of how isolated she had become from those she had once held dear, and decided to branch out the Owly Reader into Diagon Alley.

It was quite fortunate that she was able to find someone to take over her old shop in such a short time. One of her regular customers, Linda McKay, came in and practically begged her for a job at the store, as apparently her oldest children had all left to attend university, and she was driving herself mad staying at home. You can only imagine her surprise when Hermione had offered her to run the entire store. Hermione pledged her eternal gratuity to the woman for taking over the shop, because, for some unexplainable reason, Hermione couldn't wait until she moved back to the bustling wizarding life in central Diagon Alley.

Her new shop was just as cozy as the original Owly Reader had been, and no sooner had Hermione put her first lease payment in her landlord's hand did she start stocking the shelves with the books she had acquired over the past month. Hermione had always had too many books to keep in stock at her Original Owly Reader, and she was only too excited to have somewhere to put all of the extras, as her small storage closet had ended up flowing into her flat. Of course, she wouldn't have minded this in general, but it was a lot of work to carry cases of heavy hard-back books up three flights of stairs to her home.

There was some speculation that Hermione was trying to replace the ever famous Flourish and Blotts, but Hermione had deemed these notions absurd, as she didn't generally provide mainstream literature. What she had also found to be absurd was the abnormal amount of press she had to relay this information to. Her status within the press had only been raised after Amanda Jacobson had been sighted in her store, and the press had quite the time making up stories about the drama between the two. Of course, Amanda had been the one put out to be the victim, as the story had been twisted to make her seem as if she had only been trying to reconcile their differences. Hermione almost found the notion to be entirely comical, as she had never spoken more that five words to the woman in the store, and she was quite sure Ms. Jacobson hadn't the slightest idea who she was.

The press had also been a factor in the reason for Hermione's move. Once Amanda Jacobson had been sighted in her shop, inordinant amounts of teenagers flooded and loitered her shops, dropping her profits (as teenagers generally do not take interest in atypically magical literature), and destroyed the quiet, cozy atmosphere she had worked so hard to achieve, ultimately driving a lot of her general costumers from frequenting the store. Linda had assured Hermione that she had more than enough experience with irritating adolescents, and made it her goal to return the Owly Reader to what it had originally been.

Hermione put her last book from the case she had brought down from storage, it was a collection of the best articles from the magical newspaper, "The Quibbler", which Hermione had thoroughly enjoyed as a comedy, and even sent a copy to Luna Lovegood for her 3rd Anniversary with her husband Neville.

She smiled at her newly replicated home away from home, and turned as she heard the bell ring above the door in her shop, and felt the entirety of the oxygen in her lungs leave as she glimpsed at the red haired man that had entered her shop.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Hey everyone! I just want you to know that I've decided to post a chapter weekly, because this will allow me to write during the week and have ample time to get all my thoughts down and edited, when I generally just get excited and just write as quickly as possible and automatically post it, which happened with my other stories on my previous account, and eventually it became so erratic I gave up on the story. =( Anyway, I am making it my goal to follow through with this story no matter what, and I am excited to see how things turn out with it!

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Hermione was shocked when she saw who entered her shop door. For a fleeting second she could have sworn it had been Fred , but quickly began breathing when she realized the man that had entered her shop was much taller, with a skinnier frame than Fred's. It was _Ron._

Ron, along with a few other friends she had kept in touch with, was the first to let her know that he harbored no hard feelings for what she had done. He had also been the one to encourage her to follow through with her irrational decision to move back home. Ron had been living a relatively quiet life after the war, what with settling down and marrying Hannah Abott. Hermione couldn't deny that the two were absolutely perfect for one another. Hannah was quite laid back, whereas Ron was more hot tempered, and she always knew how to calm him down. They were a perfect balance, and despite the fact that Hemione hadn't associated much with Hannah during school, she had become quite close with Hannah after graduation, especially when she and Fred had been together; the two couples went out often with one another.

After hugging and greeting Ron, Hermione asked, " What brought you down to see the shop so quickly?"

"It's not very often that a friend whom has moved so far away from everybody comes home." He told her winking. "Well, that and Hannah got stuck at work and asked me to stop by to make sure you're alright, and that you're not panicking, _yet _anyway." Hermione laughed, glad to have had him make some humor out of the situation.

"Well you can relay to her that, while I appreciate her concern, I have no intention of leaving anytime soon."

"Thank Merlin, I'd never hear the end of it if you left again!" He said.

She swatted his shoulder, and grinned at his cheekiness. However, she did want to make a point. "You know, I really regret that I put your entire family through thatt, Ron, it really wasn't fair to anyone." She told him seriously.

"S'Alright I suppose, I think everyone is missing you more than they're angry, nowadays. You are a large part of our, though slightly atypical, family, which you should have learned _by now," _he raised his eyebrows, insinuationg long speeches undoubtedly made by his mother at one point or another. "Speaking of which-" He sat down on one of the recliners scattered about the few aisles in the shop, this particular one being in reach of her of her small, yet well equipped quidditch section (though more of a shelf than a section, because Hermione couldn't keep more than 10 books in stock at a time), "-brings me to the other reason I came by so early." Hermione sat down on her stocking the couch opposite of him, unsure of what he was going to say next.

Ron then reached and pulled out a copy of a Chudley Cannon's compilation of season paraphernalia about 20 years dated, and flipped through a couple of pages before continuing, "Mum practically fainted when I told her about you coming back," Hermione's heart sank, "but when she got back on her feet I had to promise her my broomstick if I didn't make sure you'd attend dinner this Sunday." He said this so nonchalantly, Hermione couldn't be sure she had heard him correctly.

"Your mother wants me to have dinner?"

"Yes..." He flipped another page.

"With the _entire _family?"

"Down to the last toddler."He peered closer at a magical re-enactment of a wronsky feint.

"On Sunday..."

"Blimey, Hermione, what are you so nervous about? Everyone is so excited to see you. No one can blame you for anything that you did, Hell, Fred didn't say a bad word about you through the entire situation! And, in all honesty, it's really not an option on whether you come or not, because I'm pretty sure my mother would kill me otherwise, and because I _just_ bought my Firebolt 600, and I will not let you come between us!" He said exasperatedly. Hermione couldn't help but relax at hearing his patented, what-the-hell-are-you-on-about voice, and by the fact that he was discussing the state of his relationship with a broomstick, which always brought her down to earth.

"Okay fine, I'll be there." She agreed. She felt her nerves creep back into her body slightly, but she mentally shook them away. Ron seemed to not notice, as his head was still stuck in the book, which is when she realized her over familiarity with it.

"Hey, so, I'm glad you like that book." Hermione said smiling, after Ron hadn't answered her agreement to go to dinner.

"Why? Because I'm actually reading? I'll have you know that-"

"No, Ron, I know you have a much larger intellectual capacity than you let on, but that was the second part of your birthday present last year, and I lost it in the cases of books I had in storage, I had completely forgotten about it until I saw you with it." She informed him.

A look of realization dawned across his face. "That's why you got me the vintage jersey! Not that I didn't appreciate that as well, of course." He explained.

"I forgot to look for it until the last minute and I couldn't seem to find it anywhere!" Hermione giggled at the memory of her frantically tearing through her entire flat. "Anyway, think of it as a 'thanks for welcoming me back' gift or something."

They both stood up, and Ron hugged her as he made to leave. "Anytime, Hermione, anytime." Ron started walking toward the door, and as an afterthought turned and said, "See you on Sunday! Don't be late!"

"Have I ever been?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

Ron stood with the door open, "Well, who knows what nasty habits you may have acquired on your social sabbatical, eh?" He winked and left Hermione standing there, thinking that it had been quite a long time since she had smiled so much.

* * *

As Hermione trudged up the stairs to her newly acquired flat, after her long day in the new shop, she couldn't help but feel slightly apprehensive about throwing herself completely back into her old life. She felt as if it would be somehow pretentious of her to think that she could easily walk back into the life she had originally abandoned, and even found it irksome that everyone had been so nice to her about coming back.

Not only did it make her feel uncomfortable coming back, but it made her feel even more like a monster for hurting a family that would take her back under any circumstances. Ginny had already sent Hermione three letters and confirmed breakfast with Hermione the next morning.

To get her mind of said matters, Hermione tried to un-pack completely without magic. She always felt that she would lose touch with herself if she did everything completely with magic, and Hermione never liked to become too dependent on anything, she needed some sort of control.

Control or not, Hermione had completely underestimated the amount of energy she had left after setting and re-opening her shop. She could barely put the bed together before she collapsed onto it falling asleep immediately.

* * *

So here we are, just getting the ball rolling! Get ready for another chapter headed your way next sunday, and let me know what you think, because I would LOVE to hear your imput!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Okay guys, here we go! Sunday (well, not _quite) _update #2 is heading your way!

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Hermione Granger _hated_ un-packing, or, even packing for that matter. The way she saw it, it seemed such a waste to have put it all the time and energy into organizing your things, to just take it all apart and having to start from scratch. She was reminded of this unfortunate characteristic trait as she sat on her living room floor, staring wearily at the mounted piles of shipping boxes aligned on the left wall.

It wasn't even the physical labor of moving all her things, which could be easily solved by magic, but the fact of the matter was that Hermione wasn't a naturally organized person. Although those who were only acquainted with Hermione would say otherwise, those closer to her would easily share the many stories in which it took Hermione weeks to get all of her things settled at Hogwarts, and the inevitable mess her life became when she was especially busy.

It took a great deal of effort to portray her self as being very put together in all aspects of her daily life. She was very persuasive, seeing as she had previously worked in magical law, and she often had to stop herself from being influenced negatively by her own mind. She had to consciously condition her self to not follow her basic instincts, whether it be on whether or not to take the time to put away her files neatly rather than shoving them in, or if her dishes could wait until morning to be washed.

With the lack of energy to convince herself otherwise, Hermione decided to leave the boxes be for the day, since having every thing packed in its own separate box _was_ some kind of organization in itself, moved to magically put her furniture together.

Hermione stopped to survey the last piece of furniture she had set up in the apartment. Her bookshelf. It was a present given to her by none other that Fred Weasley. After leaving her work at the ministry, Hermione had interned at Flourish and Blotts, quite a step down from her first job out of Hogwarts, but Hermione couldn't deny that her true passion was books, and reading law texts only satisfied some of her thirst for knowledge, so she decided to take the position anyway. Many a night she had spent putting away books in the antique mahogany shelves. She had become quite attached to them, often getting lost in books she discovered, and would end up spending more time near those shelves than in her own home. Towards the end of her internship she had been informed that the entire store was soon to be refurbished, and as much as she protested, the ultimate decision was made that the shelves would be taken down along with the rest of the renovations.

Hermione, having been kindling her friendship with Fred Weasley at the time, often shared her discontent with him over moody and everlasting spiels about the importance of the bookshelves.

Fred had found it both endearing and irritating that she could be so passionate about a set of inanimate objects, not to mention it had been putting quite a damper in his plans to get Hermione to go out with him. She had been too busy worrying about those stupid pieces of wood to notice his advances, how he had started to put his hand on her back, or would whisper in her ear to get her attention. On more than one occasion he had to stop himself from just snogging her at dinner to get her attention. Wasn't she supposed to be one of the smartest women in the world? That's when he formulated his plan.

After three weeks of Hermione's constant complaining, and with her internship having been completed, he contacted the owner of Flourish and Blotts about some very important bookshelves...

A week after Hermione's internship, she had been looking at spaces for her own shop. Having money saved from her highly lucrative law career, Hermione couldn't wait to have her own shop. She thought she had found the perfect shop, but it wouldn't be ready for her to use for another 6 months! Hermione didn't mind, as it was well known that she liked having ample time to be fully prepared for her opening. Her only apprehension being the space was quite always from Wizarding London.

As she walked into her flat, she felt that something wasn't quite right. Something was different, something new. That's when she noticed the shelf. Standing in front of the wall that led to the kitchen, was the Flourish and Blott's bookshelf she had spent so much time thinking about. Not thinking about how it had gotten in her apartment, she walked over to it slowly, running her hands along the stained wood. On the back wall of the shelf, there was a carving; a heart with the letters HG+FW encircled, with a question mark beside it. Propped next to the wall, was a card, with a vault number where the rest of the shelves were held. Hermione felt tears prick her eyes at what the gift had meant. She couldn't believe that he cared enough about what she had been discussing with him for the past few weeks to actually do something about it. It was the best gift anyone had ever given to her.

Needless to say, Hermione and Fred began their relationship less than twenty-four hours after finding the shelf. She apparated to his apartment straight away, and they went on their "first date" that very night.

To this day, Hermione still used those bookshelves in her first bookstore, and refused to use any other for her personal collection than the one he especially gave her, despite its history.

Sighing at the memory, Hermione put the last book on the bottom shelf.

Hearing her front door open, a feminine voice called out "Hermione!" as a bubbly red head entered.

A smile erupted across Hermione's face as she rose from her knees, and ran over to the giddy girl.

"Ginny!" She gushed hugging her tightly.

Ginny, holding her out at arms length, exclaimed, "It's been so long since I've actually _seen you in person!"_

"It hasn't been _that_ long." Hermione said, smiling slightly.

"Well it's been long enough." Her face turning mockingly stern. "And if you ever do this to me again-" she started, flushing slightly red.

"You'll release the Molly Weasley that's been lying dormant in your genetic make-up on me." Hermione joked.

"Good to know you were listening." She winked.

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A/N

Okay, so I originally had the intention of making this chapter much longer than my previous one's, but it went in an entirely different direction than I had expected the chapter to, so I need to take a few days and regroup as to where I want to go for the next chapter, so let me know what you think, and i'll see you with another update next week!


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